Sharing

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Clear Blue Skies

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We have five preschoolers and there are days that certainly challenge me. But some time ago I learned that my attitude is the key to self-control. If I place my family at the top of my priority list, if I place wifehood and motherhood as the most important things I have to accomplish in this life, then a different perspective is built in my mind. If I fail in those callings, I will not be prepared for becoming an eternal parent with my husband.

I strive to maintain this perspective, remembering that a clean, orderly home is foremost for the benefit of my family. Otherwise, I might see the incessant questions and needs of my little ones as interruptions, I will always have dishes to wash and laundry to fold; but now is the only time I will have precious little ones to nurture.

How do I cope with my small family? Is it difficult to cope with clear blue skies and rippling streams? No. The task at hand is to drink deeply and to enjoy every moment, for tomorrow all may change.Eileen D. Telford, Everett, Washington

A Baby Is Forever

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After coming home from the hospital with my eighth child, my ten-year-old son Ian asked; “Are we going to have any more babies, Mummy?”

My mind raced back over the past nine months, complete with a ruined camping holiday and several weeks in bed with dangerously high blood pressure. My young family, the eldest only eleven, had kept house, cooked, washed dishes, looked after me. Of course, I reasoned, they would dread another pregnancy.

So my reply was, “I don’t think so, Ian. I think we will concentrate on bringing you up and maybe have some really good holidays together.”

I was both delighted and humbled as he exclaimed, “But, Mummy, a baby is forever, and a holiday is only two weeks!”

I’ve Done Something Right!

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Feeling we haven’t done all we should is a common cause of frustration among Mormons. A woman who isn’t keeping up with the laundry, let alone keeping a journal, may truly feel she’s a failure. But we all need to remind ourselves that perfection is a process.

What’s really needed is more emphasis on the positive. I can say to myself at the end of a long day, “Yes, I’ve yelled at the kids more than once today, and I still didn’t get the bench painted or my scriptures read. But I’ve also swept the floor (six times), helped a son with a Cub Scout project, told a child I was proud of her, and taken time to listen to my husband.

“I’m trying; and for all my small sins of commission and omission, I’ve shown some compassion, made a little progress, accomplished some small task. I’ve done something right!”Laurie Williams Sowby, American Fork, Utah